Done With The Dogs: Competitive Eating Legend Kobayashi Calls It A Career Over Health Concerns

One of the competitive eating greats — Takeru Kobayashi — is calling it a career to focus on his health, which, after a career spent putting away more hot dogs than Michael Moore on Dollar Dog Night, is probably smart.

The 46-year-old from Japan, who won six straight Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contests from 2001 to 2006, announced that he was calling it a career in a new Netflix documentary titled, Hack Your Health: The Secrets Of Your Gut. Kobayashi revealed that years of eating absurd amounts of processed foods had an adverse effect on his health, but not in the way you might be thinking.

According to The New York Post, doctors found that Kobayashi's brain had become "repelled by processed foods."

See? It's not just football that can mess up the ol' noggin.

"For the past 20 years, I have been in this field," Kobayashi said. "I worry about the consequences of my decision, but most importantly, I want to repair my brain and gut."

Good for him for voicing his concern but only doing so after locking up records for the grilled cheese sandwiches eaten in one minute (13), lobster rolls eaten in ten minutes (41), and a cheesesteak speed record in which he downed one in under 25 seconds.

Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi helped to make the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Competition a 4th of July television staple. (Photo by Bobby Bank/WireImage)

He explained that eating like he has for over two decades can in turn have some physiological effects.

"When you eat too much, you lose the ability to smell the food, and you also ignore signals from your body, such as feeling full," he said.

That actually sounds like a competitive eating advantage, but if you want to live to see your mid-50s, it's probably best to make a change and that's what Kobayashi is doing.

Now, 'round these parts, we're big fans of Kobayashi's arch-rival, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut. Still, you can't understate Kobayashi's importance in making the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest requisite viewing on the 4th of July before you put yourself in a food coma after just three dogs, some pasta salad, and a few beers.